How the world has changed since Maria's last slam

The world was a very different place when Maria Sharapova last won a grand slam title, the 2008 Australian Open:

Michael Jackson was still alive.

Prince William had not proposed.

The Eurozone was not in crisis.

Amy Winehouse was still alive.

Barack Obama was a best-selling author, not the President of the United States.

Maria Sharapova was 100 million dollars poorer (approximately) than she is today.

Pete Sampras was still the most successful male tennis player of all time with his 14 major titles.

Most were still unfamiliar with the terms ‘sub-prime mortgage’ and ‘credit default swaps’ (and believed that Lehman Brothers was too big to fail).

Wimbledon’s Centre Court did not have a roof.

Novak Djokovic was yet to have won a grand slam (though he was the men’s champion at the 2008 Australian Open, his final was a day after Sharapova’s).

Sarah Palin still believed she could reach the White House as the vice-president.

Amanda Knox was yet to stand trial for the murder of her housemate in 2007 – she would subquently win an appeal against her conviction.

China was still waiting for its first grand slam singles champion.

Bernard Maddoff was yet to admit that he had been running a Ponzi scheme.

Rafael Nadal was yet to have won Wimbledon.

The Arab Spring had not yet sprung.

http://twitter.com/master_mind5991 Dongquan Van Nguyen

Some more to mention:

* Rafael Nadal had yet to win an Australian Open title or US Open title.* Kevin Rudd was still the Prime Minister of Australia.
* Victoria Azarenka was still 18 years old.
* The St. George Illawarra Dragons had yet to win a NRL premiership.
* Caroline Wozniacki was still 17 years old.
* Flo-Rida’s “Low” was the most popular song on the radio.